San Jose Grand Prix

[John Place]

Held Friday - Sunday (29-31 Jul)

I believe the event was planned around the major hotels and making money, with too little planning for the actual race.

I had tickets in the 4C stand with the Shelby group also with Paddock entry, on the maps as located next to the track facing pit row and a straight, the chicane and follow on straight - should have been great. The stand however was pushed back with a stand on either side like the bottom of a U. The extensive wire/concrete barrier systems then had advertising on all the way and we could not see the cars, only hear them passing.

We then found a standing position where we could see a short section of straight and the start of the chicane. Well, the City had the chicane straddling the rail lines (!!??), cars hit the raised sections, became airborne for about 40ft with two massive "pops" from the engine. Surely transmission problems or crashes would result. We eventually located the Paddock way back down side roads.

I will be staggered if spectators tolerate this event for the price.
Also with parking at $35 per car.

We left at 11am. Such a pity as the cars were great.

John

[Bluedog]

I attended the qualifiers on Friday and bought the $150 seats in the Grandstand (2 Gold). We couldn't even see the cars do to the tall barriers and having the pit area right in front of us. We finally ditched our seats and headed towards the Adobe building. Much better views! I really enjoyed the drifting "race".

I hope San Jose learns from this experience. Next year, I think I will stand by the fences...cheaper, better views, and more in your face action.

Bluedog

[scootter]

Dont forget getting across the race track. I took over 45 minutes to get to the center of the feild. Then another 30 minutes to get back across. We ending up eating lunch at one of the resturants then stood and whatch the champ car qualify then left.

[sambrozy]

John thank you for your Friday tickets. It seems that the general admission is the best way to see the race. It is sort of nice to wander around and see the races from different locations. The Shelby bleachers were set back from the track for some reason. I'm sure they will improve the race for next year.

Stan

[Rick Parker]

There was some footage of the race this morning (Monday 8/1) on SPEED. In one shot the cars were being kicked up in the air about 4"-6" as they drove over a set of rail road track. It looked pretty violent. The general opinion of the drivers interviewed was positive, although they did acknowledge some issues with the track. However, given the fact that it was the inagural event I guess things like this can be expected. Remember the F1 races in Long Beach? That was an event!

Rick

[Yetiman]

I watched the race on SPEED Sunday, and was amazed that the cars could run on such a surface. Watching on TV, the cars seemed to be doing about ten mph around the hairpin. I know the actual speeds were higher, but it was amazing to see them going so slow.
There was one section of the track that looked barely wide enough for a car to fit through.

Pretty wild, and really too bad their not racing at Road America this year.

[John Place]

The San Jose Mayor stated it was a great success, as they had 150,000 people on Sunday after expecting 100,000. I am sure the people did not know what to expect, but San Jose got their money.

Facts are;

Eighteen cars started and only NINE finished, rest had problems.

The car that started first won the race.

The speed was about 175 mph through the chicane and cars were airborne about 40 feet and hit both bumps with huge engine bangs. Some cars grounded.

There were no places to pass going thru the concrete tunnels.

In my books the City has no excuse. It would have taken grinding/roughening up the blacktop road surface either side of the rails for some distance, then laying a blacktop surface from some distance either side to gently raise the road up and over.
The City signed a 5-year lease, so they better get some ideas.

John

[ERA Chas]

A friend and I travelled 2600 miles from LI to join my son who lives in SJ for this race.
The young guys thought I b#t@*!% TOO much about the same things you guys have observed. I wasn't trying to ruin their day(s).
I can also add to your lists' a public transit system that shrouds all users in mystery about where they're going.
Never found the Champ Car garages (or Atlantics), long waits and walks, standing at fences which race org. thoughtfully moved FURTHER away from trackside and zero sight lines from "silver" grandstands. We stumbled upon Bruno Junquera and ladyfriend who seemed equally baffled as we,
wandering the "paddock".
Three days of that and we finally figured some of it out on race day.
$3 water, $7 beer. The hometown did great.
Oh, and we left the Champ race 30 mins early hoping to avoid the crush.
Should we Email this thread to Gentilozzi and Kalkhoven?

[Podus Rex]

I bought a one day general admission for me and my son for Sunday. First surprise when I bought the tickets: no grandstand seats or paddock passes unless you buy a 3-day pass!

Second surprise: When we get there, you can't see much more than a few yards of track because of the height of the barriers. You can hear the cars scream by (and pop), and you can just see the top of the roll bars, but that's it.

Third surprise: There are some huge TV monitors around, but they are place for the benefit of the grandstand users. For the general admission people who paid $45/ticket, you are SOL if you want to see the race.

Now, I understand that they want to get a lot of people to buy three day passes, but they totally ignored the general public. I've been to Laguna a lot for champ car races, and at least when I went there I could buy a one-day ticket with paddock pass and grandstand, if I wanted. (and I could see large portions of the racetrack). I had no option here.

But the real problem is that by running the track through the canyons of skyscrapers, there is no way for the public to see the race! Kind of defeats the purpose.

I'm glad it was a success. I'm glad I recorded it on Speed. I probably won't go next year unless they relocate the track somewhere where I can see the race.

[LETSRCE]

Called the Grad Prix today to check on hospitality seating for next year. They say 2-3 weeks before someone will get back to me with info.

[Gatorac]

Was there even a pass for postion in the whole race? I sure didn't see it. The only 2 lead changes were from drivers not pitting under yellow.

I don't think it was possible to pass on that track.

[ERA Chas]

You are are correct.
The only thing close to a pass was Tracey's move on Bourdais at the hairpin. Bourdais was distracted by a call from his crew re. fuel metering and ran wide. PT wasn't close enough.
Of course, I know this from the tape I watched when I got home.

[Monster]

Stan & I and representitives from other car clubs met with the organizers early this year to look into coral parking and at that time it appeared that they really didn't have everything together in planning. Track layout and location changed a few times, I don't know what experiance these folks had but they definately need to consult with the organizers of other similar events to get their act together. Long Beach offers a number of ticketing options including single day grandstand. The prices are much better, the viewing is not obstructed and the track has some passing areas and a smooth(er) racing surface.

The corral fell through because of the way they structured the "offer". 3-day Silver passes ONLY at 20% off up to 100 tickets no corral parking just a group discount. At 100 tickets we would have received corral parking but the tickets would then lose the 20% discount (revert to FULL PRICE) AND they required a comitment that the cars would be at the event ALL three days AND the cars would have to get there by 7:00AM to park in the inner area of the track then they would not be able to leave until after the event wa over each day. A few Parade laps were to be offered ONLY to the "club" with the highest ticket sales (I haven't heard if anyone saw parade laps, did anyone notice?).

It appears that my choice to pass on attending and watch the 4:00PM reply on TV was a good decission.
I hope they really review this years event and make the needed changes for next year.

my 2cents,

mike